The Summer Hideaway [Large Print] [Hardcover]

This opens with Ross Bellamy, a young helicopter pilot in the army just rounding up his tour of duty in Afghanistan. He comes home to learn that his beloved grandfather George Bellamy, a retired journalist and the closest thing to a father he has ever known, is terminally ill with brain cancer.
George has opted to stop all treatment, live his last few months doing whatever he wants and dying in his place of choice, Willow Lake's Camp Kioga, a place with much meaning in his life. He also wants to see his grandson Ross settle down with the right woman and he thinks his hired nurse would fit the bill nicely. So he has an agenda for Ross's future and a bucket list of his own, things to settle up before his time comes.

The nurse accompanying him to Willow Lake is Claire Turner, a professional in assisting those at the end of their lives get through what is to come. Claire has secrets of her own. She is a young woman in hiding from a murderer, a police officer whom she saw slay two young boys when she was a foster child in his home. As a teen she took a new identity and for years she has moved around and lived all her life ready to run. Now she finds herself yearning for normalcy and a chance at family life. The Bellamy men capture her heart as she learns more about the ties that bind in familial love.

Predictable, yes, as some have mentioned, but presented in a captivating tale of the past and the present, which is a favorite format for me as a reader. Ms. Wiggs has done an excellent job of providing us just the right pace to keep us wanting to learn more, and her descriptive prose makes us want to be there at Willow Lake. It sounds so peaceful and beautiful, just like the cover. We laugh, we cry, we feel. What more can you ask for?

She's been on the run since she saw her foster father murder two boys. Now, she's a nurse, but Claire Turner specializes in helping the terminally ill. With them, there's no chance of long-term connections, no chance that she won't be able to run. Her latest job, with George Bellamy, shouldn't be any different. Sure it's inconvenient that George wants to spend his last days at the converted summer-camp where he spent the happiest days of his childhood, but Claire can handle even the dangerous small-town atmosphere. What she can't handle is George's super-hot grandson, Ross. Ross has just returned from deployment in Afghanistan and his family sends him to rescue George from the gold-digging internet-nurse. Claire doesn't dare form any attachment, it would only make it harder to run and put another person in danger. Still, can she resist?

George has had an active life but he has regrets as well. He lost contact with his brother when both young men fell for the same girl. He's got a list of what he wants to accomplish before dying, including sky-diving, riding a Harley, and finally contacting his brother.

Author Susan Wiggs is at her best detailing the doomed love triangle between George, Charles and Jane. With his efforts to recover from Polio, his battle between prejudice and his heart, and his present-day will to live life even while only days from death, George makes a sympathetic character even as we shake our heads at his inability to close the deal with Jane. Claire is also high-potential with her history and danger. And Wiggs is a dependably talented author, writing compelling descriptions and narrative.

For me, Ross came off as a little one-dimensional. He's back from the war but he really doesn't have any goals, any career aspirations, anything really going for him other than a hot bod and a grandfather who thinks he's wonderful. I would have been more interested in the romance if Ross had been more interesting as a character. He did reflect some of his grandfather's attitude, allowing Wiggs to play George's doomed romance against Ross's, but then again, Ross didn't have a compelling brother he needed to compete with...he had a grandfather setting everything up for him. Similarly, although we eventually learn the facts behind Claire's fears, initially, I was tempted to shake my head and wonder if she wasn't over-reacting to her supposed sense of danger.

Wiggs is such a good author that these story defects didn't really keep THE SUMMER HIDEAWAY from being an enjoyable read. It isn't her best book, though.

[Present day - Ulster County, New York]
[Summers 1944, 1945, and 1955 - Ulster County, New York; Autumn 1955 - New Haven, Connecticut]
This is my first Susan Wiggs novel and although it didn't rate very high with me, I do think she is a talented author and skilled storyteller and will read one or two more books before I decide she's not for me. Much of my complaints about this book are the same as those mentioned by other reviewers:

~ THE HERO ~ Although I wanted to like Ross and felt a bond with him at the beginning, when we meet him on his last day of deployment, throughout the rest of the book he seemed to be more of a shadow than a full-fledged character. His relationship with his grandfather was heartwarming and I really wanted to feel more attached to him, but I just felt disconnected and unable to connect with him as one normally does with a romance book's hero.

~ THE HEROINE ~ Claire/Clarissa was engaging and someone whom it was easy to root for, however I was never able to completely believe her back-story. Although yes, she has to be on the run and her life is in danger, the fact that she is *always* planning an escape route everywhere she goes, hides her "escape bag" at Camp Kioga right away, etc., was a little much for me. It's not like she's on the FBI's wanted list or that the government is out to get her; the chances of her being found in some random small-town in upstate New York are slim. Sure, I understand she has to be on her guard, but I thought it was all slightly exaggerated.

~ ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP ~ I did not at all feel the chemistry or connection between Ross and Claire. As I read this book, I got the feeling that Wiggs is more of a slow-paced romantic author than the other contemporary romance authors I normally read (Rachel Gibson, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Deirdre Martin, Jennifer Crusie, Nora Roberts, etc.). For me, that wasn't a problem, since one of the things I enjoy best about these books is watching the emotional/intellectual connection between the hero and heroine develop. Unfortunately, in THE SUMMER HIDEAWAY, all aspects of their relationship fell flat for me.

~ TWO STORIES IN ONE BOOK ~ This book essentially features two stories, though most of it does take place in the present day. You have the story of George Bellamy, the elderly man who is at the end of his life and has hired Claire to take care of him, and you have that of Claire and Ross, who is George's grandson. George has been estranged from his brother for fifty-five years and he's decided that before he dies, he wants to reconnect. As the book unfolds, we learn more about the estrangement, discover what drove such a wedge between George and Charles (Charles' wife, Jane), and watch two men become brothers again and meet one another's families. I found George's story more engaging and interesting than Ross and Claire's, though as other reviewers have pointed out, George's story is not romantic - if anything, it's heartbreaking!

THE LAKESHORE CHRONICLES:
Novella - "Homecoming Season" in MORE THAN WORDS anthology (October 2006), Miranda
Book 1 - SUMMER AT WILLOW LAKE (August 2006), Olivia and Connor
Book 2 - THE WINTER LODGE (February 2007), Jenny and Rourke
Book 3 - DOCKSIDE (August 2007), Greg and Nina
Book 4 - SNOWFALL AT WILLOW LAKE (February 2008), Sophie and Noah
Book 5 - FIRESIDE (February 2009), Kimberly and Bo
Book 6 - LAKESHORE CHRISTMAS (October 2009), Eddie and Maureen
Book 7 - THE SUMMER HIDEAWAY (March 2010), Ross and Claire
Book 8 - ? (?), Daisy and ?

OTHER BOOKS BY SUSAN WIGGS:
Like I said before, although I didn't enjoy this book very much I will be giving Wiggs another chance. After looking through her backlist, I found these five books that all had high ratings with Amazon.com readers and stories that sounded appealing to me: The Drifter, Halfway To Heaven, The Charm School (Calhoun Chronicles, Book 1), The Horsemaster's Daughter (Calhoun Chronicles, Book 2), Summer at Willow Lake (Lakeshore Chronicles, Book 1), and The Winter Lodge (Lakeshore Chronicles, Book 2). Keeping my fingers crossed that I enjoy these books more than THE SUMMER HIDEAWAY!

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 41 reviews  3.9 out of 5 stars